[Eurchap] [Fwd: MIT Press publishes Liberating Voices pattern language book]

[M.J. Menou]

-------- Message original --------
Sujet : 	MIT Press publishes Liberating Voices pattern language book
Date : 	Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:53:32 -0800
De : 	douglas at cpsr.org

	




Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution Is 
Now Available!

I'm writing to you as a friend or colleague or, in some cases, as a 
person whom I've never met but whose work I admire. In any case I'm 
hopeful that you'll find this work compelling. If you do, please read 
this announcement and send it along to friends and colleagues who might 
also be interested. (Please also take a look at the attachments, the 
endorsements on the back cover of the book, are worth a look.)

After eight years of work, the book on our information and communication 
pattern language project, Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for 
Communication Revolution, is finally available. Liberating Voices brings 
together a multitude of ideas and suggestions from a variety of 
perspectives including activism and social change, education, community 
informatics, governance, media, development, information science, 
economics, journalism, arts and culture. It can be used by researchers, 
by practitioners in a variety of fields including teachers in the 
classroom, by activists, and by citizens and community members 
throughout the world.

This book is particularly relevant at this time in history. It is a call 
for social change based on a peaceful revolution in grassroots 
information and communication. Our manifesto takes the form of a pattern 
language containing 136 patterns. Each pattern is a template for 
research as well as social critique and action. And each pattern is 
linked to other patterns to form a single coherent whole. We (myself and 
85 co-authors) have tried to show that the struggle for liberatory 
information and communication systems is absolutely critical to a just 
and sustainable future.

Inspired by the vision and framework outlined in Christopher Alexander's 
classic 1977 book, A Pattern Language, the book presents a pattern 
language containing 136 patterns designed to meet these challenges. We 
are proposing a new model of social change that integrates theory and 
practice by showing how diverse information and communication based 
approaches can be used to address local as well as global problems.

The pattern language was developed collaboratively with nearly 100 
co-authors using an online pattern language management system. The 
patterns from the book are all online as are approximately 300 other 
patterns in work. We are treating the publishing of the book as an 
important milestone rather than the culmination of the project. While we 
are very enthusiastic about what we've produced so far we realize that 
people and organizations who use the patterns will often need to adapt 
the pattern language to their specific needs which may even include 
developing new patterns. For this reason and others we are revamping our 
web site to encourage collaborative pattern language construction and 
allow people to readily share ideas and experiences with others.

We worked to create an intriguing and informative catalog of 
intellectual, social, and technological innovations, a practical manual 
for citizen activism, and a compelling manifesto for creating a more 
intelligent, sustainable, and equitable world. Now is the time to 
unleash our collective creativity—social as well as technological—and 
develop the communication systems that promote community and civic 
innovation and engagement to address serious challenges like climate 
change and environmental degradation.

If this sounds interesting I encourage to take a look at the book. Also, 
please don't hesitate to get in touch with me for any reason. And thanks 
in advance for sending this note to friends and colleagues!

Doug Schuler
The Public Sphere Project
The Evergreen State College

Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution can 
be ordered online at:
    http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601 
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601>

The Public Sphere Project
    http://www.publicsphereproject.org/

The Liberating Voices pattern language project
    http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/

Online portal to the patterns in the book
   http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/pattern-table-of-contents.php

        


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